The city's request to expand and extend the life of the Waimanalo Gulch Sanitary Landfill in Leeward O'ahu will be taken up by the state Land Use Commission today.

The city's permit to operate the facility near Kahe Point expires Nov. 1.

The administration of Mayor Mufi Hannemann has stated repeatedly that it will not allow the landfill to operate without a permit, leaving open the possibility that trash from hundreds of thousands of O'ahu homes could be left uncollected in a little more than a month.

That's not likely to happen. Facing a May 2008 deadline a year ago, the LUC chose to grant the city its current 18-month extension.

SPACE RUNNING OUT

But Tim Steinberger, the city's director of environmental services, said in a written statement, "If we are faced with a denial on ... (the landfill), this would obviously have a major impact on the county. This would affect our residents, every business, and the tourist industry in Honolulu.

"In order to operate H-Power, or move forward with the shipping contract (to send some of O'ahu's trash to Washington state), a permitted landfill is required. If a negative decision is reached, we would have to meet with the state to discuss our options."

The city is seeking an expansion of the landfill from the current 107.5 acres to just over 200.5 acres in the back end of the gulch. The city also wants the facility's life extended until the expanded area is at capacity. Landfill officials estimate that will happen in about 15 years, given the rate of trash that's going to the landfill.

Joe Whelan, general manager of Waste Management of Hawaii Inc., which operates the landfill under contract for the city, said that if the landfill is not expanded, it will run out of space around February or March of next year.

Opponents of the expansion argue that residents were promised in the past that the city would find a new site for a future landfill. They consider the facility an aesthetic blight, especially since it lies practically across Farrington Highway from the burgeoning Ko Olina Resort and Marina.

Whelan, however, said the expanded landfill area will be less noticeable from the coastline because the back of the gulch is narrower and the slopes of the valley steeper.

The city Planning Commission, which plays an advisory role on the issue, voted July 31 to recommend approval of the special use permit.

ASSESSING OPTIONS

The recommendation called for keeping the landfill open without a scheduled closure date, and with a stipulation that it stay open until it reaches the capacity allowed by the state Department of Health.

The recommendation also called for the city to "begin to identify and develop one or more landfill sites that shall either replace or supplement" the Waimanalo Gulch landfill by Nov. 1, 2010.

City officials have argued they have no option at present but to expand the landfill and that they are working on alternatives. One already under way is to include a third boiler at the city's H-Power waste-to-energy facility at nearby Kalaeloa.

State Sen. Colleen Hana- busa, who is representing the Ko Olina Community Association in opposing the expansion and is herself a Ko Olina resident, said she and state Office of Planning director Abbey Mayer will be raising concerns about the Planning Commission's recommendation.

The lack of a time-certain closure date is a key objection, Hanabusa said.

Hanabusa said she expects to ask that the LUC send the matter back to the Planning Commission for a new recommendation, noting that Mayer's written recommendation asks for the same.